


hold my heart (until it grows old)

by farozaan



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Atsuhina are MARRIED, Atsumu wants to propose but he only has one braincell - the fic, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Post-Time Skip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:20:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25231525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/farozaan/pseuds/farozaan
Summary: Atsumu doesn't believe in fate.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Miya Atsumu
Comments: 30
Kudos: 840





	hold my heart (until it grows old)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kitcassiachan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitcassiachan/gifts).



> so........ how about that 401 that dropped today haha... h
> 
> loosely based on [this tweet i made yesterday](https://twitter.com/msby_twt/status/1282111505971007489?s=21) and then that pre-olympics interview happened where hinata imitated atsumu's dialect bc atsumu told him so and apparently he does it perfectly and i???? malfunctioned. 
> 
> and then my lovely friend kit (i love you) told me, verbatim, "don you feed me well but you could feed me better." so here we are.
> 
> this is for you, kit!!!!! atsuhina married!!!
> 
> thank you for listening.

This is it.

Miya Atsumu has to do something he never imagined himself doing in all the years of playing volleyball, especially professionally. He has to will his mind and go beyond what is normal for him.

This is really it.

“Tobio-kun,” he says, voice lower than it probably needs to be, and expression so serious like he's about to serve at match point. “I need your help.”

Kageyama, who had been kneeling in front of his bag to put away his stuff, turns to him with great confusion more than evident on his face.

“Huh?”

Atsumu grinds his teeth. He can't believe he has to repeat that, he can't believe Kageyama is _making_ him repeat that. “I need– I need your help.”

Kageyama is still just staring at him, and Atsumu is desperately trying to keep it together.

His jaw is starting to hurt. “Please,” he finally adds, and that was harder than pulling out teeth.

Now Kageyama almost looks worried. “Are you okay?”

No. He isn't, but that's not important right now. “Are you going to help me or what?” He snaps, just a little bit, from the nerves and from being annoyed at Kageyama for being so difficult, or maybe it's himself that's being difficult. In any case, he's annoyed.

Apparently, his pissy change in attitude seems to calm Kageyama though, and he nods, almost looking a little relieved. “I can try? Do you need serve practice?”

Atsumu is going to strangle that little brat. _“No,”_ he hisses and looks around to check if anyone's listening, but the gym is almost empty. “This isn't about volleyball.”

Kageyama looks confused again and he finally stands up and turns to Atsumu, waiting for him to elaborate.

Atsumu takes a deep breath. “I want to ask Shouyou to marry me.”

Atsumu waits to gauge Kageyama’s reaction to that. As it stands, Kageyama is one of Hinata's best friends and they know each other better than anyone else, Atsumu grudgingly has to admit. They also think very similarly at times, so Atsumu drew the conclusion that asking Kageyama for advice would be his best option.

Kageyama still looks very confused. “How should I help you with that? I’ve never wanted to do that.”

_Oh my God, he's killing me._

“I’d like your advice on how to propose to him. You know him best.” He is also a little miffed that _that_ was Kageyama's only reaction to this big revelation. He knows he shouldn't be that surprised but still! At least some response would be nice! Some _‘what?’_ or at least a little _‘huh?’_

To be fair, Kageyama does look like he's taking the request seriously as his expression turns somewhat dark, and Atsumu recognizes that face. It's the same one he has when he's focused on court. That's almost touching.

“Hinata likes volleyball,” is what Kageyama ultimately says. 

Atsumu blinks. He waits. He blinks again.

“Yes, I’m aware. So?”

“Well, propose to him with a volleyball.”

Asking Kageyama Tobio for anything volleyball-unrelated was a mistake.

“How the hell am I supposed to propose to him with a volleyball?”

Kageyama looks around and suddenly walks away from him. Atsumu watches as Kageyama goes over to pick up a stray ball closeby and he returns to him, showing it off to Atsumu, as if that's a good answer.

“Here. You can write the proposal on it with a sharpie and then jump serve it to the back of his head.”

Atsumu is _never_ going to ask Kageyama for advice ever again.

“I’m not going to do that, Tobio-kun.”

Kageyama looks genuinely surprised, as if his idea had been the ultimate masterplan, an unrivaled epiphany. “Why not? I think it's, uh, romantic?”

So that had been a bust. 

Atsumu shook off that unhelpful piece of advice while the two of them left the gym. He shouldn't be that surprised, really. Kageyama's head is only useful when it's about volleyball after all. 

His head is racing, trying to come up with other ideas related to volleyball because it is true that Hinata loves hardly anything more, just like Atsumu himself. What else is there? Meatbuns? The beach? Dragonball Z? Yoga? A beach proposal would be nice but when would they even have the time again to visit one? They're in the middle of preparing for the Olympics.

“Well, for what it's worth,” Kageyama says just before Atsumu is about to leave. “However you end up proposing, Hinata is going to be happy, I think.”

Atsumu looks at him in surprise, a little speechless by the heartfelt sentiment, and he would rather die than admit that it genuinely touched him. Atsumu clears his throat and looks away. “Yeah, uh, thanks.”

Kageyama just nods.

This problem continues to haunt him. 

He is technically ready to propose whenever. He has a ring, he has the mindset, he has the blessing of almost everyone around them. Because, yes, after consulting Kageyama, Atsumu had reached out for more help.

His second option technically would have been Kozume Kenma who, after Kageyama, is the closest to Hinata. But Atsumu is honestly a little scared of him, and he doesn't know how to just casually contact him about this anyway. They weren't close at all and Atsumu isn't sure if Kozume even likes him or just simply tolerates him for Hinata's sake

After that, he spoke to Osamu. Unfortunately, Osamu is too similar to Atsumu himself and had also not been that great of a help. “The serve thing would be kind of funny,” he had said and Atsumu just answered that with a deadpan expression. 

“You don't need to make it too complicated, you know. You're overthinking this. Maybe plan a nice dinner and then when the mood is right, pop the question.”

It was a solid idea but it was just so boring and _unspectacular._ Atsumu wants to do something special because Hinata is special, what they have is special. Any scrub could do a romantic dinner at home. Atsumu wants something that was perfectly suited for the two of them but also so romantic that they would talk about their epic proposal to their grandchildren.

(Atsumu had a little meltdown thinking about them having grandchildren because that would mean they’ll have children of their own, and that would mean imagining them as parents, imagining Hinata as a parent and oh God. _God._ )

After Osamu failed to deliver, Atsumu went to Bokuto because Bokuto was actually married.

“How did you propose to Keiji-kun?”

Bokuto stopped stretching next to him. Atsumu kept an eye on Hinata who was luckily on the other side of the court with Sakusa.

“I didn't propose. Keiji did. Kinda.”

“Okay, and how did he ‘kinda’ do it?”

Atsumu should have known he would regret this. “During sex.”

Atsumu was ready to end the conversation right there and then, but of course, Bokuto is a bullet train without a brakes. 

“We were just getting started,” – _“Stop.”_ – “And the mood was pretty good, I gotta say, and then,” – _“Bokkun, I’m begging you.”_ – “He suddenly went ‘I wish we could do this forever’ right in the middle of things while I,” – _“Please stop talking.”_ – “So I said ‘We can! Let's do it forever!’ you know,” – _“I’m going to leave.”_ – “And then we were just engaged. Pretty romantic, right?”

Atsumu didn't toss to him for an entire hour.

So that was useless as well. He's slowly running out of options.

It’s not like Hinata doesn't have more friends Atsumu can consult. Actually, Hinata has an abundance of friends, but the pool that actually is somewhat close enough to Atsumu to reach out to is miniscule in comparison. Atsumu has the sneaking suspicion that a lot of Hinata's friends don't even like him. 

(They're just jealous, Atsumu tells himself. Because Atsumu won at life. Top tier pro-volleyball player _and_ dating Hinata Shouyou.)

Atsumu altogether skips Sakusa for obvious reasons. Yes, they're best friends, but he knows that's not going to get him anywhere. Atsumu tells him so and Sakusa even thanks him for not making him do this.

He can't ask any of Hinata's Karasuno friends because he doesn't really know any of them. He already knows that Ushijima or Hoshiumi would be just as helpful as Kageyama or Bokuto. And Atsumu would also rather chop off his own hand than ask Oikawa which Hinata had grown close with since he came back from Brazil. 

All in all, he's out of options and left alone with his own useless brain.

Why is this so difficult? Why can't he think of the perfect proposal for the one person that matters as much or even more to him than volleyball? If he can't even think of a good way to do this, then how would he fare as a fiancé? As a husband? Maybe a father someday?

Atsumu is spiraling when help comes in the most unexpected way.

“Hello Miya-san! Kageyama-kun told me you were asking around looking for help.”

Atsumu looks at the short blond woman next to Kageyama, who looks almost proud of thinking to bring her along. 

Atsumu knows her of course. Yachi Hitoka, former manager of Karasuno, and another one of Hinata's best friends. She is some of the few that actually like Atsumu. He knows this because she told him so before and that had already put her very high on Atsumu's list of people to be nicer to.

This could be good. She could be his savior. He can't believe Kageyama was actually useful to him in the end.

“You’d help me?”

She gives him a kind smile and nods. “Of course! I think it's really sweet that you want to put in so much effort!”

Atsumu wants to thank her on his knees but just about manages to get it together. Yachi is going to get the best seat at their wedding. 

Atsumu wraps up his practice early and gets ready to leave with Yachi (and Kageyama apparently who is Yachi’s ride.) They settle down in a café close to the gym and Atsumu insists on inviting Yachi. (Only Yachi. Kageyama is rich enough to buy his own milkshake or whatever he likes to drink.)

“So, what did you have in mind, Miya-san?”

Atsumu rolls the coffee filled mug in his hand. “Ah, that's the problem. I’m not sure. I want it to be special, you know? Because it's Shouyou. It has to be special. So I don't want some cliché shit like hiding the ring in his food or something. Also nothing super embarrassing like a huge sign in front of hundreds of people with a flash mob. That's all trash.”

Yachi hums as she thinks about it. “So you already have a ring?”

Atsumu nods and starts rummaging in his bag to pull out a little black box that he carries with him at all times. He’s too scared of Hinata accidentally finding it at home.

Yachi coos and asks if she can take a look and Atsumu motions for her to go ahead. 

The ring itself is very simple. It's a nice and clear gold because Atsumu thinks (knows) that it compliments Hinata really well, without any elaborate or special extras to it. The only thing that's special are the engravings on the inside.

“These numbers,” Yachi notes as well and Kageyama next to her moves closer to get a look too.

“7101321,” he reads out loud. “Your jersey numbers.”

Atsumu nods. “From when we first met to when we met again and also started dating.”

Yachi looks like she's about to cry, eyes huge and almost glittering in the light of the café as she looks up at him. “Miya-san, this is so wonderful!! Oh no, I’m getting emotional now. It's like a code, just for the two of you.”

Atsumu is pleased and he preens just a little bit as Yachi continues to stare at the ring and the little numbers with something close to tears in her eyes.

“Then I’m assuming you want the proposal to also have something to do with volleyball,” she concludes correctly. Atsumu is really vibing with her.

“Well–”

Atsumu looks over at Kageyama. “I’m not going to jump serve a ball with a proposal on it to his head.”

Yachi puts down the ring and looks at Kageyama. “Was _that_ your ‘good idea’?”

Kageyama looks defensive as he drinks the rest of his milkshake. “I still think it's a good idea!”

“He could get hurt!”

Atsumu nods in support. Finally someone gets it!

“I never said he should use his full force!”

Thankfully, Yachi rejects the jump serve idea just as quickly as Atsumu had, and she keeps looking at the ring in front of them on the table as she thinks.

“Hm, I do think doing something with volleyball is a good idea because that's what brought you two together, and it's still one of the most important aspects of your life. I mean, what do you enjoy most about playing with Hinata?”

That's an easy question. “When I can trick blockers and use him as a decoy. It's so satisfying.”

Yachi looks at him, a little helpless. “Well, anything else?”

“Well,” the answer should be obvious. “Tossing to him of course.”

It’s then when Yachi's face suddenly lights up. “That's it!”

Both Atsumu and Kageyama look at her in surprise. “It is?” They ask in unison and it lowkey annoys Atsumu to be in sync with the other setter.

Yachi leans forward. “Okay, how about this–”

To say Atsumu is nervous, is the understatement of the century.

It took him way too long to put on his shoes and knee pads and he feels like the otherwise solid ground of the court is made of jelly as he walks behind Hinata.

Luckily, Hinata is too much in his volleyball mode to notice anything off (yet) and Atsumu only has to act like a normal human being through warm ups. That should be doable, right?

They're all alone in the gym, Atsumu made sure everyone stayed away as they're in on what he's planning to do, and never has the gym appeared so scary to him. It was usually a comforting and familiar place, but right now it's almost haunting him.

The only sounds echoing through the room were those of their shoes and Hinata's rambling as they stretched and got ready for spiking drills. Just the two of them. And the ring box hidden in the pocket of his pants. Atsumu felt like throwing up any minute.

He can do this. He takes a deep breath and turns to Hinata.

“All warmed up? Should we get started?” He manages to ask with a surprisingly stable voice and Hinata grins so widely, still excited to play volleyball with him, even after so many years, and so many tosses. God, Atsumu loves him so much.

Osamu asked him once if he knew. If he knew back when they were seventeen, and Atsumu pointed at Hinata after a match lost. 

The answer was simple. He didn't know.

Atsumu doesn't believe in fate or something divine bringing him and Hinata together. He doesn't believe in soulmates or the stars aligning to have the last remaining puzzle piece fall into place.

No, Atsumu believes in himself, and he believes in Hinata. 

He believes in his own hard work and dedication, in relentlessly chasing after what he wants. He believes that things don't just happen because they're meant to be or because he simply really wants them, but because he worked hard to make them happen.

He had no idea, at seventeen, that he would actually stand on the same side of the net as Hinata Shouyou, or that their lives would intertwine beyond the lines of the court and manifest deep into his heart. He only knew that a player like Hinata inspired him even more, and that he wanted to play with people like him. He knew he would have to work without breaks and chase after that goal and make this happen.

And Hinata is the same. He left everything behind to work towards his own goal, left for two years on his own, worked and trained day after day. He has the same drive, the same kind of passion. So it should only be logical to end up at the same place as him. _They_ made it happen.

Atsumu doesn't believe in fate. He believes in himself. He's going to make it happen.

Hinata throws up the ball and immediately starts his run up. Like a well-oiled machine, they both fall into perfect motion as Hinata jumps high as ever and Atsumu reaches up and sets the ball to him.

It’s a perfect toss. Good height, far enough from the net, good amount of speed, and Hinata connects perfectly with it and the ball hits the other side of the net with a satisfying sound.

Hinata lands from his jump with eased practice and lets out a little whoop because Atsumu knows he felt how perfect that one was too.

Atsumu loves him. So much.

He has already gotten down on one knee, ring box open in his head, as he looks up at Hinata who has yet to turn to him.

“That felt really good!” Hinata says and this is it. He turns his head and he looks confused for a fraction of a second when he realizes that he has to look down.

His mouth opens in surprise.

“It was perfect, Shouyou,” Atsumu says and he can't feel his own body, can't feel anything except for his heart that is violently pounding in his chest. “It was the best.”

“Atsumu,” Hinata whispers, eyes still so wide and they're so beautiful Atsumu thinks. His eyes are beautiful. Hinata is beautiful. “Are you–”

“Marry me, Hinata Shouyou.”

Atsumu believes in himself and in Hinata.

And when Hinata falls into his arms with tears and his eyes, yelling “yes” over and over again, he knows that it wasn't fate or destiny. They made it happen.

  
  


The crowd is cheering around him as Atsumu walks to the back of the court with the ball in his hand, mind full and too unsettled yet for a good serve to happen.

He pulls out the necklace hidden under his jersey and takes the ring attached to it to press it to his lips.

Immediately, like a spell, his mind settles and he hides the necklace back from the view of others.

Atsumu takes five steps and turns around. The referee’s whistle stings in his ear, and he lifts his left hand to silence the crowd

The ring under his jersey hangs right over his chest, right over his heart.

He throws the ball up and it's a good one.

He made it happen.

  
  



End file.
